Changeling: the Dreaming
Changelings in Dusk It is important to note that Dusk is primarily a Werewolf: the Apocalypse game, and will remain that at the core. Changeling characters applied for and played in Dusk are expected to have a defined connection to the Werewolf game, and a reason to interact within it. They are not to detract from it, and for that reason, the Changeling setting and system will be as threadbare as possible. However, there are a number of ways for a Changeling character to find him or herself wrapped up in the world of the shifters, and there is a great deal of canon supporting it. Being Kinfolk is perhaps the most obvious, and most prevalent of these ties. Among the Kiths themselves, history can be found linking to certain tribes. The Fianna have the largest number of Kin among the Fae, though by far, they are not the only ones. Some Get of Fenris have a great deal of respect for the Trolls, and have no doubt crossed paths with them on a number of occasions. On the flip side of the coin, most of the tribe find issue with the Fae because of the actions taken by the House Aesin Sidhe. The Eshu and Silent Striders know of each other as well. And many Pooka find kinship with shifters of their animal affinity, feeling they fight the same fight. Though, some of the strongest, and still continuing bloodlines are among the noble Houses. The history of House Fiona and the Fianna is believed to go back to the beginning. Kithain scholars believe that the Fae were responsible for the Fianna, and in turn, the Fianna were responsible for House Fiona, as one shaped the other. It is not unheard of for members of House Gwydion to carry the blood of the Garou either. They have their own merit for it called Blood of the Wolf. Most Gwydions would have you believe their closest connections are to the Silver Fang tribe. Then there's the Eiluned, which lay claim to teaching the Shadow Lords everything they know. On the Unseelie side of things, you'll find the aforementioned House Aesin. These naturebound Sidhe have had Garou born among them, and were responsible for the infamous mount incident, after exploiting their control over the natural world. House Balor, unsurprisingly enough, have dealings with the Black Spiral Dancers. Whether the stories are true, or just stories, this is just the tip of the iceberg of relations between the Fae and the prodigal wolves, and are merely suggestions to use when constructing a character. Character Creation Creating a Kithain or Kinain character for Dusk will be mostly by the book. For the sake of not repeating myself, you will find everything you need to know to create a base level character here. Characters will be handled on a case-by-case basis, meaning as we start nothing will be outright banned or restricted. Players instead will be given the chance to provide valid explanations on their character sheets. This is to allow players to explore opportunities they may not otherwise have. Should a need arise for restrictions or bans on character stats or types, they will be listed on this page, along with the date that they were added. House Rules There will be a few alterations to the character creation process to have them better suit the crossover game of Dusk. - Characters with a sufficient history of at least three paragraphs -- a paragraph in this case being 5-7 sentences -- will receive additional freebie points at creation. Right now that number is 15, bringing Kithain to 30 freebies, and Kinain to 36 before flaws. - Kithain characters that have completed their fosterage will receive 2 free points in an applicable Lore Knowledge. There following types are available: : Kithain: '''This is your general Changeling Lore for the 9 core Kiths, Piskeys, Clurichaun, and Selkies. Gallain:' This Lore covers non-Kithain character types such as Nunnehi, Inanime, Menehune, and the like.' Thallain:' This is the Lore of the darker, twisted Kiths found in the Shadow Court book, but also including Spriggan, River Hags, and others.' Dreaming:' This is Lore of the Dreaming itself, its realms, and its denizens, including most sentient chimera. This is also the Lore possessed by the Adhene, and is required to have knowledge of them. - Oh, and despite the fact that I mentioned no bans outright before, Dusk is set in Denver, Merfolk, Selkies, and the like have no reason to be in a landlocked setting. Character Growth and Advancement XP spending in Dusk is unchanged, and the table below will outline most costs. It should however be noted that I prefer an even growth of characters when it comes to stats on their sheet, and that having in-character reasons for expenditures are preferred. Players will not be allowed to purchase two dots in the same stat group during one XP period. Buying a dot in both Stamina and Wits will be allowed, but not two dots in Mental attributes, or two dots in Physicals. Magical abilities will be limited in this way as well. Players may purchase a dot in an Art and a dot in a Realm per period, but not more than one dot in either section. Certain statistics are not meant to be raised by means of experience. These are mostly backgrounds. Backgrounds for the most part will be ST awarded to reflect in-character changes. Others will be given a cost if the need arises. Some Backgrounds will never change over the course of play. An example of this would be Remembrance. So make sure to buy what you'd like at character creation. Additional System Information This section will house altered merits, flaws, and crossover rules regarding Changeling: the Dreaming in Dusk. Merits for Use in Dusk 'Faerie Kinain' pt. Merit This Merit marks the character as a blood relative of the Fae, and entitles them to a few perks and privileges the average character wouldn't have. Taking this Merit ensures the character will have a lower Banality rating than the human average of 6-7. This might be as low as 4. Due to this, Changeling characters will react better around the character, and may even befriend them. Also, it makes them less susceptible to the Mists memory wiping effects, should they ever become Enchanted. While they don't normally see Chimerical Reality, and they cannot enter the Dreaming on their own, should they get assistance in doing such, it'll be much easier on them. (The Dreaming will recognize them as being related to the Fae and won't act against them.) This Merit gives the Kinain some minimal knowledge about Changelings, and allows the player to buy the Changeling Lore Knowledge to make the character more knowledgeable. 'Know Kithain' pt. Merit You are aware of the signs a Faerie soul leaves on the host body of Kithain, and are able to recognize most of them on sight. You may automatically recognize any Kithain with Flaws such as Changeling Eyes, Slipped Seeming, or any other that leaves the tell-tale signs of the blood. However, if such conditions do not exist, you may still be able to pinpoint one of the Kithain through the use of a Perception + Kenning (or Awareness) roll. Difficulty is the Kithain's Banality + 3 (as those closer to Undoing do not "shine" as brightly.) Clearly, these perceptions will be altered by the amount of Changeling Lore the character possesses. 'Faerie Affinity' pt. Merit Characters with the Merit: Faerie Affinity are not themselves kinain, but have some attributes that are similiar to the kinain. Faerie Affinity is the result of ancient pacts and oaths that were made between the fae of old and certain mortals and Prodigals. These should be taken into consideration and defined when assigning this Merit to a character. The power of these oaths has carried down to many of their descendants, giving them special status among the Kithain. A successful Kenning roll (difficulty 6) reveals if a character has a Faerie Affinity. Characters with Faerie Affinity are partially aware of the Dreaming, and have the ability to see the fae mien of Kithain and any chimera the changeling is carrying or directly interacting with, although they cannot see other chimera unless they are enchanted. This works much like a lesser version of the Kinain's An-de-Shealladh Fae Gift. Such characters are easier to enchant, like the kinain, requiring only a Glamour roll against the subject's Banality, and line of sight. Characters with Faerie Affinity also remain enchanted for the same amount of time as kinain. Characters with Faerie Affinity are treated as if they have 1 Banality lower than they normally would have on the Mists chart. A character with Faerie Affinity typically should not be enchanted against her will because of the ancient pacts that gave her the Faerie Affinity in the first place. A changeling who does so becomes (knowingly or unknowingly) an oathbreaker, and will find issues in Kithain society because of it. Understand that taking this Merit in Dusk requires a sufficient oath or pact to be placed on the family line. This must be defined on the character sheet, and it must have some conditions to be met on the character's end as well. You cannot take the Geas flaw, or any other in relation to the oath granted by this merit. Changeling-Kinfolk, Shifter-Kinain, Etc. So you've got the blood of another kind somewhere in your family line. Here's how it works for you... 'Changeling-Kinfolk, Kinain-Kinfolk' For characters that are Kithain or Kinain that are Kinfolk to the Garou or the Fera, build the character as you would normally, following the guidelines of the creation page linked above. Then take the Supernatural Kinfolk merit to represent their ties to that shifter type. For the Changeling game in Dusk, the merit is 4 points across the board, aware or otherwise. Taking the Supernatural Kinfolk merit alone does not award any points, but grants the character access to stats like Pure Breed, and other goodies from Kinfolk: Unsung Heroes. With '''one important limitation', at this time, I am not allowing characters to possess two different types of magical resource pools. What I mean by this is you can't have both Glamour and Gnosis. Which also means you can't take abilities fueled by Gnosis. Should your character somehow gain the favor of the Garou or the Fera in such a way that learning Gaia's Gifts comes up, it is possible by canon system mechanics. Note however, no non-shifter can ever learn Gifts above Rank 1 at any time, in any fashion. Nor can they learn Gifts that require the expenditure of Gnosis as stated above. Gifts will also be taught at the XP cost for shifter-taught abilities, and not spirit-taught. 'Shifter-Kinain, Kinfolk-Kinain' For the Shifter types that also have Fae Blood, build the character normally. Then take a 4 point, room-specific merit called Faerie Kinain. This merit, grants the character access to many Kinain abilities, and also reduces their permanent Banality rating by up to 2. Refer to the Mists chart for the standard Banality rating of your character type. In this case, most shifters start at 7. Wyrm-tainted shifters start at 8. This is before the reduction. Fae Kinain automatically receive the first dot in the Fae Blood background for free. It is impossible to be Kinain without having Fae Blood, it is impossible to have Fae Blood without being Kinain. Once again, if your character type possesses Gnosis, you cannot have a Glamour pool, and cannot learn abilities fueled by Glamour. However, since Kinfolk do not start with Gnosis by default (in the way that Kinain start with Glamour), the player can opt to not take the merit for gaining Gnosis and instead gain a Glamour pool with a maximum determined by their character's Seeming (age). These numbers are found in the Kinain creation section of the Changeling site linked above. Do note that should you choose to take a Glamour pool, your character can never gain a Gnosis pool. Fae Gifts that do not require the expenditure of Glamour are open to all Kinain, shifter or otherwise. These must be purchased with freebies at a 1-for-1 cost. The number of Fae Gifts a character can have is limited by the dots in Fae Blood the character has. Fae Arts and Realms can be learned by Kinain with a Glamour pool, as can all Fae Gifts. Once again following the Kinain creation guidelines, and requiring a Faerie Mentor. 'Kinain-Sorcerers, Kinain-Mages' These character types will follow many of the restrictions already listed above. The Faerie Kinain merit is a must. It is not possible to possess a mana pool and Glamour, or a Quintessence pool and Glamour. So the same limitations are in place. And yes, Fae Gifts are open to these character types as well. Regarding Numina, as I'm sure that's a topic that will come up. By the books, it is possible for a Kinain or Kithain to possess these abilities. I am going to allow it, but under very tight restrictions, and only Numina that are labeled 'psychic phenomena' can be taken in this way. No paths, no ritual magic. Provide a very good explanation, and understand that advancement in these abilities will be painstakingly slow, if allowed to happen at all. 'Changeling + Vampire' This always ends bad. Ask again later. Crossover Rules A majority of the Changeling play that takes place in Dusk will involve crossover of one kind or another. Most of this will be with the Garou and the Fera, so I feel the need to lay down a solid set of rules for what issues might come up. 'Enchantment' The enchantment rules in Dusk are as follows. We will not be using the variable enchantment lengths as listed in The Enchanted. For any being, mortal, kin, or prodigal, one point of invested temporary Glamour grants 24 hours of enchantment. This can be extended by offering more Glamour. When the enchantment ends, the victim will sleep for a set period based on the Mists chart found in Changeling: Second Edition. The duration is determined by their Banality rating. A few things of note: : A character's Banality rating is by-the-book, unless certain conditions are met. The merit Faerie Kinain (4 points) can lower a character's permanent Banality rating. : The merit Faerie Affinity may reduce Banality as well, by 1, as a benefit of ancient oaths or pacts. These merits cannot be stacked. A character is either kinain, or they are not kinain. : If your character does not have these merits and you still feel like they need to have an adjusted Banality score, get with me. If you do not, your character's score is the one listed in the core book. The Mists coma kicks in at the end of the enchantment, and cannot be interrupted by any means magical or mundane. The character is placed in a form of stasis and magically sustained during this time. That means normal bodily functions come to a bit of a standstill. Dreaming does occur during this period, but Mists comas are not to be used as "nightmare bait." The dreams a character has are typically based on their experience while enchanted. Memories of events that occur while enchanted will also be skewed, or will vanish completely. This is also based on the Mists chart. There is no safe way to recover these memories. No rolls can be made to resist the loss of such. And the character may just try to explain away what they do recall. Finally, a note on combat while enchanted. No character can be killed in the literal sense from chimerical means. The Glamour given them acts as a shield. This means if an enchanted Garou is struck down by a chimerical blade, he or she would fall into the Mists coma. Though, they'll have to heal the damage taken normally.